Many non-ionic surface active compounds are known including compounds comprising hydrophilic groups derived from sugars. For example, EP-A-0 541 467 describes surface active compounds comprising a hydrophobic polyalkyleneamine chain having a saccharide group at each end. It is speculated that such compounds may be of use in cosmetics and pharmacy. The ability of the compounds to form vesicular structures suggests their use as encapsulating agents and also their use in the extraction of membrane proteins and in immunology.
A small proportion of known surface active agents are suitable as coating aids or dispersing aids in the preparation of photographic materials. For example, EP-A-0 314 425 describes surface active agents comprising two hydrophilic polyhydroxyalkyl chains and two hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains.